


What We Think, We Become

by Atalto



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Injury, Multi, Romance, Shallurklance Ship Week, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Sleepy Cuddles, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-10 03:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12290535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atalto/pseuds/Atalto
Summary: The life and times of a relationship between a one-armed Arena survivor, a 10,000 year old Altean princess, an orphaned half-Galran, and some bloke from Cuba.Somehow, they make it work.(7 short fics written for Shallurklance week on Tumblr)





	1. Lance's Sweet Tooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Welcome to a short collection of fics that I've written for Shallurklance ship week on tumblr, hosted by the lovely Shallurklancentric.  
> I hope Y'all enjoy these!  
> (Also no, I haven't forgotten about Everything, I'll get on with writing another chapter once all these haven been posted)
> 
> Have fun!

At what felt like eleven in the evening, a sweet smell was coming from the kitchen.

To Lance, who was perched outside the door like a hero from a spy movie, it smelt  _divine_. It smelt like vanilla, syrupy sweet compared to the alien musk of a ten thousand year old castle that hadn't been used for the majority of its life. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, it had a hint of spice to it, like his sibling's cinnamon swirl cookies they used to make when they were home from their mainland university. If Hunk was replicating Alex's world-famous cookies, then, well,

Hunk must have been a  _god._

And then he got an idea.

Steeling himself before taking one last inhale of the sweet air, Lance strolled into the kitchen, hands innocently in his pockets like he hadn't just been hiding outside in the dark for the past ten minutes. On the other side of the kitchen, Hunk was definitely cooking, and seemed to be getting incredibly frustrated. Alien tech was still confusing, even after being in space for a couple of years now, and despite having two natives with them, although Hunk was the greatest cook on board, even he couldn't completely work out the oven.

"Yo, Hunk, my man!"

Hunk jumped nearly a foot in the air; maybe knocking would have been better.  
He turned quickly on his foot to face Lance, hand pressed defensively against his chest. "Quiznak, Lance, don't shock me like that!"  
"Sorry." He smiled sheepishly, before shooting a larger grin over at Hunk, "but, Hunk, my buddy, my man, the best human in the entire universe-"  
"What do ya' want, Lance?" Hunk sounded annoyed, but a smile was starting to show.   
"Watcha' cooking?"  
"Just a cake," he replied, turning back to a bowl of batter and giving it a stir for good measure, "turns out the flour from that moon we stopped at is sweet enough to act like vanilla, and the eggs from that bird planet are exactly like chicken eggs."  
Lance looked over, standing on the tips of his toes to plop his head on Hunk's shoulder. "Can I taste?"  
A spoon with a small dollop of batter appeared near his face, and he gave it a tentative lick. It did, in fact, taste exactly like a typical cake batter from Earth, sweet yet with that typical floury bitterness, and had an aftertaste of roses?  
"Yeah, that happens apparently," Hunk said with a laugh at Lance's question, "Coran said it was something to do with the reaction between the flour and the water? Either way, he said it was safe, so I'm working with it."  
"Keith likes rose cakes," Lance mused, chasing the spoon again for another taste, "he swears he doesn't, but I looked through his bag once and found an old rosewater bottle."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah dude!" Lance grinned as he moved round to lean on the counter and face Hunk. "He thinks it's 'uncool' or some shit, but like, Shiro openly talks about anime, and Allura tried to sing the other day and you know what altean music is like."  
Hunk grinned at Lance's recount, pouring the batter out into recently welded moulds. "Who would have guessed it, Keith being into florals?"  
"He likes to think he's all cool and tough, but he's secretly really, really soft." His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "But we all see through him, and love him anyway, so I don't see why he's hiding."  
Cooing, Hunk's face fell happily in awe. "You guys are adorable, honestly."

"So, Hunk, do you have any spare batter left?"  
"Oh, okay," Hunk replied slowly, "I knew there was a reason you were here other than to wax poetic about Keith."  
Lance put on a face of fake offence. "Well I'm sorry for wanting to spend time with my best friend."  
" _Lance."_  
"Okay, so  _maybe_  I wanted a cake for my loves," Lance finally admitted, "but only after I wanted to spend time with the true love of my life and then noticed what he was making."  
"Fine, I'll bake you a cake for you guys to share." A second mould was produced from a drawer, and a section of the batter was poured in. "But you have to decorate them both for me, you're good with icing."

"You're on, Hunkules."

* * *

 

It was only a day later, when Lance was curled up with his three lovers in Allura's bed, head in Shiro's lap and one hand laced with Allura's, that he remembered the cake that was sitting in their makeshift fridge. Scrambling out of the plush bed was more hassle than he really thought it was worth, and Shiro's quiet whine at the sudden lack of heat almost made him clamber directly back into bed next to him.   
But the cake was calling, and he hadn't spent his entire evening icing cakes for nothing.

He was halfway down the hallway, cut-up cake and plates in hand, when the nerves struck. He had been with these three for what felt like forever, and although it had actually been close to half a year, it was way too late on in the relationship to be insecure about his  _cake decorating abilities_.  
And yet, here he was, stood in the hallway because he was afraid his lovers were going to laugh at him for something as domestic as baking a cake for them. Did Keith even know about the rose? Did Shiro and Allura even like cakes?  
Well, it was too late now, and he straightened his back as the door slid open.  
"So, guys," he started, "look what your favourite boyfriend made?"  
"You know we don't pick favourites, moron," Keith said with a laugh, not looking up from his knife that he was polishing against the sheet, "and, anyway-" he looked up, suddenly catching sight of Lance and the cake. "Is that a cake?"  
"Yeah," Lance confirmed with a sheepish laugh, "I mean, Hunk made it but I asked him to make one for us."  
He was eventually stopped by Allura gracefully lifting herself off of the bed, taking a slice of the cake and biting into it, instantly losing all of her precious grace and earning a laugh from Lance. "This is made from Lysanx flour, correct?" She asked excitedly around a mouthful of cake, "it's delicious!" She swallowed, and smiled at Lance's happily surprised face. "Thank you, Blue."  
That's when she kissed him, sudden and open mouthed, and all Lance could taste was roses and sweetness, and the beautiful floral smell that seemed to hang around her like an aura. He tilted his head, eyes fluttering shut as she slid her tongue over his bottom lip; Keith and Shiro must have been teaching her in her free time, the cheaters. He gave a small groan of happiness and pressed back when Allura pulled back, satisfied grin on her face. "Hey boys, I think you should see what our favourite boyfriend made."

Lance was suddenly aware of Keith and Shiro moving across the room, tripping over dead limbs and sleep clouded senses to reach him and Allura near the door. There was a cold hand on his waist, and a mess of black hair on his shoulder, and Lance knew he was okay.

* * *

 

Later, once the cake was demolished and the crumbs has been swept off the bed as best as possible, Lance lay wedged between Keith and Allura, with Shiro's hand in his hair from his place behind Keith.   
"Babe," Keith quietly asked, careful to not disturb the calm of the bedroom, "was that cake supposed to be rose flavoured?"  
"Not intentionally," Lance replied with a nervous laugh, "Hunk said it was something to do with the flour and water?"  
He felt Keith nuzzle into his neck, and press a gentle kiss into his collarbone. "Thank you."  
"You like roses?"  
"It's the one thing I remember of mom, she smelt of roses."

A comfortable silence settled over the group, as Allura snuggled into his side in her sleep and Lance could feel Keith's soft exhalations against his skin. Shiro's hand moved in his hair. "Thanks kitten, I love you." That was definitely Shiro, voice slurred and soft from sleep.   
"I love you too, Kashi."  
He felt Keith press another sleepy kiss into his neck. "That was from Shiro, by the way. Love you, you great idiot."  
"Love you too, knucklehead."

Once Keith's breathing evened out, and Shiro's quiet snores echoes around the silence of the room, Lance relaxed.

He really owed Hunk a favour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Y'all don't mind, but the other three are going to be parts in these as well. I just love writing ensemble casts okay  
> Come talk to be on my tumblr (Svendidntdieforthis) about anything Voltron related!
> 
> Kudos/comments make my world spin


	2. Keith's Blooming Problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 of Shallurklance week, and the prompt for today was Flowers!
> 
> I hope y'all like Keith and florals because that's literally this entire thing.  
> I also apologise for any OoC Keith moments. He's the character I find hardest to write, so this was quite a challange, but I hope I did him justice!
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith was never too good at cleaning. He preferred the idea of an organised mess, knowing where everything was yet it never being particularly orderly. In the Garrison, he never had time to keep his dorm tidy, and in the shack he never had the space. He wasn't Lance, who was used to clearing up after his many siblings, or Shiro, who was used to having to keep his quarters tidy, or even Allura, who had grown up in a tucked castle with maids following her every step. Habits of leaving clothes and belongings on every conceivable surface died hard, much to the chagrin of his lovers, and Pidge frequently wondered how he somehow knew where everything was.  
Hunk couldn't judge, he was just as bad.  
Needless to say, suddenly getting chucked into space and onto an alien castle where everything has to be kept spotless was a bit jarring.

So today, it said something when Coran asked him to help with the clean up the abandoned lower levels, consisting mostly of little used support team dorms and pipe filled maintenance rooms. Apparently Lance was busy introducing Allura to the wonders of dried goo face masks, Shiro was helping Hunk fix up black despite not even piloting it anymore, and Pidge, as usual, had made herself scarce at the mention of cleaning, which left Keith, and he wasn't going to let Coran just work away on his own.

When he found a rough, threaded bag full of what looked like plant bulbs, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Hey, Coran? What are these?"  
The Altean turned on his heel, water from the cleaning bucket sloshing over the sides and onto the floor. "Sorry, what was that number four?"  
"These. What are they?"  
In Keith's hand was a small bulb, round and beige, and shiny in the strip lights of the hallway.  
"Well," Coran mused, plucking the bulb out of his palm, "I'd say, well, I have no idea."  
Keith paled. "You don't know?"  
"I don't reckon its harmful though," he added as an afterthought, "why don't you grow one? I hear you humans quite like your horticulture!"  
"Coran, I lived in a desert."

Coran didn't seem to hear that, instead bustling into a side room whilst muttering away about the proportion of anflax in some random planet's meerken. When he returned a couple of minutes later, the buckets had been replaced with a large plastic-style pot, full to the brim with weird, burgundy soil.  
"This should do it," Coran instructed, stabbing what looked like a fork and a trowel into the top, causing soil to spill over the sides, "just keep them in here, water them every twelve Vargas or so, and you should have some nice plants on your hands!" He handed Keith the pot, and didn't seem to notice the way Keith sunk under its weight. "You wouldn't believe it, but I was quite the gardener in my day!" He opened one eye to look down at Keith. "Well, go on then!"

With that, Keith waddled away with the pot, walking as well as he could carrying something that he guessed probably weighed more than the team put together.

* * *

 

He ended up in his room, or at least the room he was originally allocated when he got here. It went pretty much unused these days, as he now shared Allura's massive bed with the other three, and nobody really went in it.  
In other words, the perfect space to hide a secret garden.

It wasn't that he wanted to hide it, he thought as he got down on his knees and began to scoop out holes of dirt for the bulbs to sit in, it was more he wasn't want anyone else to know. Pidge would try and engineer the whole thing, whilst Hunk would insist that he grew vegetables and spices from planets that he hadn't even heard of. Shiro would probably order samples of the bulbs and the soil, just to make sure it was safe, and Lance probably wouldn't leave him alone about it. Allura would be okay, but she's tell the others, and then he'd have the exact same problem on his hands.

Okay, so maybe he was hiding it.

But he wasn't going to admit it.

The bulbs now sat snugly in the small dirt holes, innocuous in the white lights of the room. Keith sat back on his haunches and set the tools to the side, not caring for the dirt that was spread across the floor. It was messy enough anyway, dirt being joined by bulb peelings and torn-off pieces of the burlap-like sack, it wasn't like a little bit more was going to hurt.  
Soon, he had emptied a water pouch over the top, standing and stepping away from the pot to look down at what he had spent the last Varga or so working on. Now the bulbs were covered up, it looked plain and unassuming, looking more like a random pot of dirt on his bedroom floor than something that he'd actually put work into.

Well, if they were anything like Earth bulbs, that would change soon.

He slipped his jacket over his shoulders and exited the room.

* * *

 

What according to Pidge was a month later, the bulbs were doing so much better than Keith ever thought they would. Green shoots now proudly stood dotted around the soil, many with little fuchsia heads that looked ready to bloom at any time. He was oddly proud of them as well; any luck he usually had with growing plants disappeared before the flowering, so he was pleasantly surprised he hadn't killed them yet. He had also added to his makeshift 'garden', bringing back small cuttings that were gifted to them by locals that had grown quickly into winding vines that twisted around the wall hangings and masses of orange grass that had decided to claim the bed. From the ceiling now hung a plethora of red and purple blooms, swaying in the slight movement of the ship and twisting their soft luminescent light around the room. Roots were starting to spill everywhere, even up the sides of the pot that had started all of this, and to Keith's terror, out of the door.

Ripping open another pouch with his knife, he was about to water them before dinner when he heard a whoosh of the door behind him.

"Keith?"

Shit.

"Shiro," He eventually stuttered out, turning on his foot and bringing his hands up in the air to see Shiro loitering in the doorway, "is everything okay?"  
The other paladin seemed to take this as an invitation to enter the room, walking over to take Keith's hands in his. "Everything's fine," he said with a small smile, running his Galra hand over Keith's knuckle, "I didn't see you at lunch today, so I got worried. Sorry." Keith felt himself blush, pouting as Shiro gave a warm laugh. He wanted to pull his hands away, push Shiro out of the room until he had finished watering the pot, but he didn't, instead letting Shiro soothingly stroke his hands until he had visibly calmed down from the shock.  
"Are you gonna' tell me what all this is?"

Shit. He had forgotten about the plants.

"I found them," Keith stated defiantly, slowly turning around to let Shiro see the room but never losing grip of his hands, "Coran said they were okay to plant."  
Shiro shot him a smile, letting one hand go to look at a tendril that was slowly climbing a wall. "So, what's this-?"  
"Don't touch that!"

The scarred hand that was about to brush the tendril pulled back, and Keith released a sigh of relief, shooting his boyfriend a glare. "That's a Zyan root, they mentally link with the first life force that touches them," he explained, glare easing from the kicked-puppy look that Shiro had now adopted, "you'll need gloves."  
"Mentally link?" Shiro asked incredulously, "is everything in here gonna' kill me?"  
"Pretty much," Keith replied, finally smiling, "except whatever is in the central pot, they haven't flowered yet."  
"Cute." A metal finger curled around a green shoot, and Keith was pulled over to the pot by a tug from Shiro. "They're looking close, though."  
"They've taken a while-"

The bud decided that, at that moment, it was going to unfurl, pattern appearing as the petals folded out one by one. The duo watched on in awe, Shiro squeezing Keith's hand in time with each petal whilst the other stood too shocked to move.  
Eventually, all the petals had folded down, three purple, three red, all in a six pointed star shape with bright yellow stamen dancing in the pumped air.  
"Keith, look."  
"I'm looking."  
Within seconds, the buds around the flower begun to bloom too, all in variations of red and purple, red and pink, or red and blue, each with six petals and three of each colour. The smaller buds bloomed into four pointed stars, red being accompanied by green, yellow, or orange. Eventually all the buds had bloomed except the largest in the middle of the pot, still standing tall and green without any hints of folding out.

"Whoa." Shiro eventually said, filling the awed silence.  
Keith was about to open his mouth when he heard the hiss of the door again behind him.  
"Babe, there you are!" As per usual, he heard Lance's voice before he saw him, only having a second to nod his consent before Lance's arms were thrown around his shoulders. Behind him was Allura, looking around the room and the plants within with wide eyes.  
"Dude, what are those?"  
Lance was pointing at the multicoloured flowers in the pot, looking over Keith's shoulder. He was soon joined by Allura, gently laying her hand on the shoulder that wasn't taken up by Lance's chin, but her gasp of surprise was what Keith focused on.  
"Keith, you've grown-"  
"You know these things? Coran wouldn't tell me," he grumbled, feeling Shiro's hand tighten around his again.  
"Juniberry flowers," she replied breathlessly, moving from his shoulder to run a finger over a pink petal.  
Shiro looked up. "I thought you said juniberries were completely pink, and with four petals?"  
"That's because they were mine and my mothers," she explained, "four petalled flowers are for platonic love-" a hand cupped one of the red and green flowers, and she smiled up at Keith- "and six-petalled flowers represent romantic love."  
Lance hummed, the rumble vibrating through Keith's shoulder. "So all the six-petalled ones are because lil' old Keith loves us?" He cooed and pressed a gentle kiss into Keith's cheek. "I love you too, babe!"  
"It would seem like it," Shiro warmly replied, pulling Keith's knuckle to his lips.  
Allura laughed, standing back up running a hand through black hair. "To bloom a juniberry is the greatest show of love on Altea," she added in a gentle whisper, "thank you, Red."

Standing there, surrounded by his lovers, the Galra could go get fucked. This was all he needed right now.

* * *

 

Whilst they lay asleep that night, Keith lying happily squished by the people he loved the most, a single flower begun to bloom in the centre of the pot.  
It unfurled eight, huge petals that drooped downwards with their sheer weight; two blue, two red, two pink, two purple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading!  
> Come talk to me on tumblr (Svendidntdieforthis.tumblr.com) about anything voltron related!
> 
> Kudos/comments are wonderful little gifts


	3. Shiro's memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 y'all, give it up for day 3!
> 
> Just warnings of a panic attack and general PTSD in this chapter. As usual, I've written Shiro's experience based on a mix of personal experiences and research, so it might not be accurate. I also have very little knowledge of Japanese families. Please, tell me if I haven't written it right, and I'll change it as best as I can!
> 
> And yes, His sister's name is Ayano because I had Ayano's Theory of Happiness playing whilst I wrote this. 
> 
> Thank you, and enjoy!

Memories were always a fickle thing.

Admittedly, Shiro didn't have many of them. The ones from before Kerberos were either naturally faded with age or had been forcibly removed by the druids, and many of those gained from after the ordeal he would prefer not to remember at all. His time in the arena had warped and erased many of the memories that he still had, and the experiences that he hadn't already repressed had come to light in many an equally down-hearted mind meld session.  
If Shiro was honest, he would get rid of them all tomorrow. The nightmares that plagued him due to the Galra wouldn't be there anymore, and the eternal worry of what life was like back on Earth wouldn't dog his mind like a shadow the daytime.  
He would do this, in exchange for keeping the memories of two things; his lovers, and his family.

His lovers were easy to remember. Their presence was hard to avoid; Lance clings to him like a limpet at every chance he can get, grounding him by nattering about whatever had occurred on a mission that day whilst forgetting that Shiro was steadily on the comms and had the drones primed to attack should any of them call distress, and Allura somehow always knew what room he was in, appearing in doorways magically to make sure he wasn't alone with his thoughts, and if he was, sitting close enough for her calming presence to be felt. Keith wasn't as tactile as the others, still working up to that level of comfort where he could cuddle into the others at anytime, but could notice better than anyone when Shiro's eyes gained that glassy look that indicated he wasn't quite okay, or calming him down with just the right tones and words to ground him.

  
He could never forget his family either; it wasn't quite as big as Lance's, but two mothers, an older brother, and a younger sister lead to a loud childhood. Shiro was always the quietest of the three, but he could never forget Ryou would joke about the Garrison and ruffle his hair, laced with protectiveness, or how Ayano would always find him in school to eat lunch together since she was afraid of the girls in her year. His Mom would smile widely and ask him about his day, and his Mama would rush in from work around dinner time and plant a big kiss on top of their heads.

He missed them.

But he wouldn't forget them.

* * *

 

"So, I'm sat there right," Lance explained animatedly, hands flying everywhere, "just chilling, minding my own bis', when this absolutely huge guy appears out of nowhere shouting about crow-knows-what, and I think he's gonna punch me until my sister appears behind my back-"  
"Which sister?" Allura asked; she was rather deep into the story, and Shiro loved to see her interest in the rest of their lives. In response, Lance stopped dead, staring into the middle distance trying to remember her name, and Shiro felt ice in his throat.  
"The short one," he eventually said, calm voice masking the slight panic in his eyes, "stocky, but like, half my hight. Dark eyes and really, really thick hair like Mamá."  
"Sophia?" Keith prompted, and Lance grinned in gratitude.  
"Sophia! Yeah, her." He leant over and gave Keith a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks babe. Wait, how do you know my sister's names better than anyone else?"  
"I just remember things," the other paladin said with a shrug, "you've mentioned them so many times I just learned their names, like, your brother-" he turned to Shiro- "is called Ryou, and your sister is Ayano."  
Shiro laughed, impressed. "I keep forgetting you met them."  
As Keith opened his mouth to reply, Allura gasped. "You have siblings too, Black?"  
"Yeah," he responded, shifting his sat position slightly, "one older,  one younger."  
"Are they nice?" Lance asked curiously.  
"Ryou was the textbook definition of an asshole, but a good brother," Shiro mused, "and Ayano always saw the goodness in everyone, for the better or for worse, so yeah, they were nice."  
"Is."  
Frowning, Shiro looked up at Keith. "What do you mean?"  
"Present tense," he replied, "they're still alive, you know."

That seemed to kill the nostalgic atmosphere of the room, Lance grimacing before shuffling over and resting his head on Shiro's lap, letting him dance one hand in his hair. Keith reached over and gently linked his and Shiro's hands, pressing flush to his side whilst Allura wrapped a strong arm around his waist and put her head on his shoulder.

"Do you miss them?" She eventually asked, voice barely a whisper in the silence of the room.  
"Yeah." His reply was hardly audible, broken and muffled by white noise. Hair brushed against his neck as Allura shifted slightly, and Keith's thumb against his knuckle began to draw soothing patterns of circles.  
"You'll see them again, I promise."  
"Thank you."

On his left, Keith moved Shiro's arm so it was over his shoulders, letting go of his hand to place his on the square of Shiro's back. Even Lance sat up, throwing his legs over Allura's and resting his head on Shiro's chest, almost as if he was listening to his heartbeat.

Then the alarms sounded, and memories of family got buried in adrenaline of the fight.

* * *

 

"Shiro? Are you okay?"

The battle hadn't gone great.  
Lance and Keith had ended up having another argument mid-combat, and, although Lance was arguing some good points, it really wasn't the time for it when Lotor's fleet had somehow gained the upper hand. They'd won, albeit barely, and Hunk was spending a Varga in the cryopods after Voltron's shins had taken a hideously large blast.  
But they were safe, alive, they were okay.

Meanwhile, Shiro had forgotten his sister's name.

He swore he would never forget his family, their names, their faces, the sounds of their voices. On dark days in the arena, his Mom's lullabies had kept him from losing it all.  
He couldn't forget that, he wouldn't.

"Takashi, are you with me?"

Ryou. Ryou was his brother, half an inch taller than him and a faux-tribal tattoo that snaked itself around his left arm. He ran a garage, fixing up vintage cars and engines that were frequently seen around their coastline. His sister- he could see her, mid-length hair that she kept threatening to cut, thicker than his but not as wild, glasses taped in one corner so they would hold on just that little bit longer. But her name, what was her name?-

"Your sister is called Ayano, Takashi, do you remember?"

Ayano.

He exhaled.

He felt Keith's hand on his shoulderblade, saw who he assumed was Lance and Allura kneel next to him. Above him, Pidge was passing Keith a something - a water pouch - and Hunk was giving instructions about breathing rates.

Shiro let his head fall onto Keith's knees, and sobbed.

* * *

 

"I'd very much like to meet your family one day."

They'd been on the observation deck for a while, just watching the stars of that particular cluster float past from a pile of blankets in one of the sunken sofa circles.

"Really?" Shiro asked, cocking his head slightly.  
In response, Allura nodded, snuggling into his right side; Lance was asleep on the other, murmuring unintelligibly, and Keith had his back to Shiro's front, fiddling tiredly with the frayed edges of the blanket.  
"I'd love to meet your family, and Lance's," she added, "they all sound like wonderful people."  
Shiro smiled warmly. "We'll have to introduce you to them when we get back, I'm sure they'd love to meet you."  
"Takashi's family are great," Keith quietly said, voice slurred with sleep, "their couches are really comfortable."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Mom didn't like to seem him to back to the orphanage over summer," Shiro explained, worming a hand through Keith's hair and smiling at the way he keened to the touch, "but we never had enough bedrooms, since me and my brother were already sharing, and couldn't share with my sister, so he slept on the couch."  
Allura mulled over this for a while, twirling a finger around a loose lock of Shiro's hair, and was about to answer when Lance suddenly jolted awake on Shiro's other side.  
"Guys? Guys, where's," he asked, disoriented, "where is it?"  
Shiro chuckled, moving Lance slightly so he could move his arm around his shoulder. "You'll find it soon, I'm sure."  
"'Mkay." He grunted and moved back towards Shiro. "Love you guys, love you Kash'"  
"Love you too Kitten," he replied with a chuckle, flashing Keith a grin who had looked over in confusion, "you guys should go to sleep too."  
"Alright." Keith fell backwards, tugging the blanket over his shoulders. "Night."

Once his breathing had evened out, Allura placed a gentle hand on Shiro's cheek. "You will see them again, I promise." She sounded serious, honest, and Shiro wanted to believe her more than anything. "Even if it means completely destroying this Empire personally, you will see your family again."  
The Galra hand met hers on his cheek. "Thank you."  
"No, thank you."  
Soft lips pressed against his forehead. "Goodnight, Takashi."  
"Goodnight, sweetheart."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos/comments are lovely and I crave validation


	4. Allura's wardrobe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4 of Shallurklance week, and the prompt of the day was Seasons!  
> This is so loose lmao
> 
> Brief warning for sexual implications, but it's really not big.
> 
> Enjoy!

Having seven people living in a giant ship designed for several hundred was a bit of a weird experience.  
For one, they were never quiet sure where everyone was. Rooms that they all thought were unique turned out to be identical to several others spread across the castle; Keith once said he was spending the afternoon in a training room, only for Allura and Lance to traipse through no less than four training rooms that were all clones of each other, before finally finding him in one on the sixth floor just above the hangars. That made it hard to keep track of quite where everyone was, meaning Coran had to break out the bio-scanner just to call everyone for dinner.

For another, there were so many details around the castle that, even after living there for a while, there were still things hiding in the nooks, crannies, and Altean computers that they still didn't know what they did.

One day, Lance and Allura found a wardrobe.

Well, if he was being honest, it was less of a wardrobe, and more of a room lined with rows upon rows of clothes, all obviously made for alteans. There seemed to be everything and anything, from long, flowing ballgowns in a plethora of colours, to tight little tops and shimmery skirts that looked perfect for the summer, that Lance just wanted to try on.  
With an easy laugh, he slipped his hands behind his head and wandered over to one rack. "Holy crow, 'Lura, you've kept this secret," he said with a laugh, "this place is incredible!"  
"It's not something I thought necessary to remember," she admitted with a giggle, "I'm glad you enjoy it though, my maids always picked my clothes, so I shan't say I've ever completely been in here."  
Lance hummed in response, but he seemed to be preoccupied with flicking through the racks of clothing, sometimes pulling out items to hold against himself or Allura, or to hold up in the air. It was a funny sight, and she couldn't help but laugh at her boyfriend's ecstatic reaction to, what was to her, a room of clothes.  
"Do you think Kashi would look good in this?" Lance asked, pulling out a large black and gold three piece suit, with floor-length tails and wings embroidered on the back, "it kinda' looks like it was made for him."  
"That's because it partially was," she replied, stifling a laugh and holding a sleeve out, "this is a ceremonial suit to be worn by the Black Paladin during the festival of Nik'quinex, wherein-"  
"Babe," Lance cut her off, gasping slightly in amazement, "what's Nik'quinex?"  
Now she had to laugh. "It's a festival of love in the equivalent of your Earth summer," she told him through quiet giggles, "where people would wear nice clothing and make specific foods to appease their lover, and eventually, mate."  
The suit was hung back up with haste, and Lance looked back at her, wide-eyed. "So Zarkon probably-"  
"It's highly likely."  
"Kashi must never wear that. Ever."  
"Agreed."

They hung around for a little longer, checking out the clothes on the other side of the room, Lance piling his arms with small pieces of clothing that he decided he would wear around the castle. "I bet summer on Altea was lovely," he mused absentmindedly, adding a long blue skirt to the pile and showing her a grey striped t-shirt, "would Keith like this?"  
"He probably would." She felt the material between her hands. "Although it might be a big baggy for him, he likes his tighter clothing."  
As Lance put the shirt back with a nod, she sighed quietly. "And yes, summers back on Altea were lovely."  
"What were they like?" He asked gently.  
"Warm, and carefree," she eventually replied, "it was one of the only times of the year that Father would allow me out of the castle with my friends rather than a bodyguard, so some of my best memories come from those times." She stopped for a moment, just to gather her thoughts. "We'd go swimming, or shopping, run around trying to find the most unhealthiest snack in the surrounding village, silly stuff like that." She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, memories of Altea coming back as she stood, but Lance's soft cough brought her back.  
"Back where I come from, summer is a bit like that as well," Lance replied softly, shifting the clothes in his arms so he could link one hand with hers and run a thumb over her knuckles, "but they were a bit more busy than yours, I think. We lived on a beach, so summer was tourist season?" He chuckled slightly at the memory. "I spent most of my summers helping at my aunts café on the seafront, since they had so many visitors she always needed help with staffing the place."  
"It sounds like a lot of fun."  
"We'll take you there one day," he stated, a steely promise in his voice, "and we'll go surfing, and have ice cream at my aunt's place. And Kashi will take you to meet his family and try all the local foodstuffs he keeps going on about, and Keith will wanna' show you the deserts and forests and mountains, because he loves those kinds of things, and Hunk and Pidge will-"  
She shushed him with a hand against his cheek, placing the clothes on the floor and pulling him into a hug.  
"I can't think of anything I'd rather do," she murmured into his hair, "you will go back my love, I promise."  
"Thank you."

The clothes could wait.

* * *

 

"No, trust me, it's the best place in this castle!"  
"I'm sure it is," Keith replied dryly, rolling his eyes but letting himself be tugged down a corridor by Lance. Shiro was following behind him, chuckling slightly as Keith tripped over his own feet to keep up with Lance.

They turned the corner of the long corridor into the wardrobe-room, Shiro could hardly believe what he saw. He hadn't seen this many clothes in one place since the malls his family used to drag him too; he didn't think Keith had ever seen anything like this at all. Inside the room, Allura and Hunk were already there, helping Pidge with the buttons on a gilded green and silver jumpsuit. She seemed pretty happy with it, her grin being visible from the doorway, and soon they were being beckoned over to the others in the centre of the room.

"See?" Lance exclaimed, throwing his arms wide to indicate the contents, and Shiro didn't think he'd ever seen Keith look so bewildered.   
"I see, but why do you need all these clothes?"  
"Because I'm a princess," Allura stated plainly, wandering over from where Lance and Hunk were fawning over Pidge's dress, "that, and the weather always changed fast on Altea. Father was insistent on having clothes for every occasion."   
Shiro, apparently, had gone to check out the rows of clothes himself, for when Keith turned around, he was over on the far side of the room, thumbing through hangars curiously.  
"Takashi?"  
As soon as he'd called his name, the other paladin turned, holding in his hands what looked like a red and black silk blazer, embroidered with many different coloured patterns.   
"Try this?" Shiro offered, holding it out.

The jacket fit like a glove.

"Hey Keith!" Lance called out from across the room, "you look fine in that!"  
Keith felt his face heat up with a blush, sending a grateful smile over to where Lance was grinning bashfully, and a black suit on the rack nearest him caught his eye. It too was embroidered, with what seemed to be the black lions wings.  
"Yeah? Well, I think you should try this on."  
He didn't expect a peal of laughter to erupt from Lance and Allura, reaching for each other to steady themselves. Shiro looked as confused as he felt, raising one eyebrow despite the slight smile. "It's nice," he mused, holding up a sleeve.

"Lance, bro, is that the one you were talking about?"  
"The exact one."  
Hunk and Pidge joined in the laughter, causing Keith and Shiro to share a look. They didn't know what brought on this laughter, but if it caused their friends and loves to laugh so happily, then, who were they to judge?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos/Comments are a wonderous thing!


	5. Humans and their stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> The prompt for today was Stars!
> 
> No warnings this time lmao, hope you enjoy!

"Coran?"  
"Yes, Princess?"  
"Why do the Humans love the stars so much?"  
They were looking out on the group, small pile of Paladins sleeping in a pile in front of one of the observatory deck's windows. They did this sometimes, and Allura still didn't know why; whenever Hunk couldn't sleep, he'd camp out, looking out over the view in sleepy wonder, and Pidge, who never slept, would follow after. She'd plonk herself down next to him and snuggle into the crook of his arm, typing all the while. If one of them walked past the royal chambers, Lance would soon follow, due to his obsession with making sure his friends were okay, and Shiro would go after him almost instantly. Eventually, when Keith wandered out, Allura knew that it was a bad night for the Paladins. Sometimes it happened differently, either Shiro heard Pidge crying whilst finishing his rounds, or Lance refused to even try to sleep since he knew his brain was too wired, or even Keith spending hours completely wiping himself out by beating up a gladiator.   
Either way, on bad nights, they always ended up there, basking in starlight and promising each other they were still alive with gentle touches and whispered reassurances.

"I don't know, Princess," Coran eventually admitted, a sad smirk gracing his face, "but whatever it is, it helps our Paladins, and if it keeps them going, who are we to judge?"

It was true, she had heard human stories of the stars from her loves several times. Shiro had told her of the tragic love stories that spanned hemisphere, whereas Lance spoke animatedly of the heroes and monsters that were honoured with their images in the sky. Keith was much more realistic with his stories; he may not have known the tales, but he taught them all how to navigate with the brightest ones, using pans and crosses to find your way. Each time, she marvelled at human ingenuity, how they could look up at dots in the sky and see figures or creatures of myth and legend, so different to the science-driven straightforward attitude of Altea. Sure, they had constellations, but they were different, usually used for spacial tracking and strategic ship launches. So to hear of how humans had looked to the sky in awe, rather than the smug Altean knowing she had known, was incredibly refreshing.

A groan from the pile snapped her out of her thoughts; Keith had poked his head out of a blanket and was looking dead at the two Alteans, sleep having mussed his hair adorably. "'Lura? C'mon over here," he mumbled, dipping back into the blankets as Allura grinned and made her way over.   
"You should stay, Coran," she urged as she lay down next to Keith, pointing to the sofa seat that was still free, "you need sleep just as much as the rest of us."  
As Keith's arm locked over Allura's middle, Coran settled into the sofa, watching over the pile of paladins.   
Maybe these humans weren't so weird after all.

* * *

* * *

It was the next day that Allura had an idea.

"Pidge?"   
She was working away in the green lion's hangar, laptop hooked up to a large machine that Allura had never seen before.  
"Princess!" Pidge squawked, turning around suddenly with a jump, "what can I do for you?"  
"I was wondering if you had any luminescent material, or knew where to find any," Allura inquired, taking a quick glance around the makeshift workshop to see if she could spot any right away.  
Pidge hummed in thought. "Like, glow in the dark stuff?" She asked back, "I don't have any here, but I'm sure Hunk could whip some up pretty quickly. He's getting better with the replicator."  
"That's certainly a feat," Allura replied with a laugh, "even my father's best alchemists struggled with the replicator." She giggled slightly despite herself. "But thank you, that would be most helpful."  
With a grin, Pidge almost seemed placated, about to turn back around when she stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, why do you want glow in the dark stuff?"

"Well, Takashi - Shiro, sorry - told me of a basic human decoration that he used to keep in his bedroom as a child, and Lance confirmed that he owned them also," she explained, rocking back on her heels and putting her hands behind her back, "and I thought it would help with their homesickness if I made some for our bedroom- Wait, why are you laughing?"  
In front of her, Pidge had burst into laughter, running a hand through her hair as she laughed. "You're telling me," she said through giggles, "that you want to make glow in the dark stars so that Shiro won't feel so bad?"  
"Well, that was the idea," Allura grumbled, "is that bad?"  
"Oh no." Pidge smirked and turned back to her computer, "He'll love it, they all will. I'll tell Hunk as soon as I can."  
"Thank you." She put a hand on Pidge's shoulder. "I hope they enjoy it as much as you say they will."

* * *

 

Hunk popped by to deliver the luminescent material around a day later, and Allura had never been so excited, but also slightly terrified. What if the stars she made didn't look like human stars? Coran had told her that the humans drew stars as a five-pointed shape with equal length sides, but no matter how she cut the material, it didn't look right. Either some points where longer than others, or the points were short with a large, uneven middle, but she was eventually left with a small pile of unique star-like shapes. They even glowed like Hunk promised they would, radiating a gentle green light when she flicked the lights off.

Hopefully, they would do.

Another thing she stole off Pidge was a small page of diagrams that she explained were human constellations, with interesting names like 'scorpius' or 'Cygnus'. They seemed very loosely connected to the image they were supposed to be; no way did this small triangle look like the triumphant weighing scales that Libra was supposed to represent.   
But if they made her boyfriends happy, who was she to complain?

She was also thankful for her natural shapeshifting ability here, able to grow herself so she could stick the stars on the ceiling without much effort. Eventually, she was left with a series of green stars in pattern above the bed, in the idea that hopefully, it should made the understandably alien castle a little bit more homely.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?"

"Takashi?"  
With a surprised yelp, she toppled over on her heal, falling backwards onto the bed. A robotic hand came into view a moment later, and she eventually righted herself with a laugh. "I'm so sorry," she said gently, "you shocked me, was all."  
"Don't apologise, I should have announced myself."   
That was the Takashi she knew and loved; constantly apologising.  
He sat next to her on the bed, Galra hand never leaving hers whilst the other snaked around her waist.  
"What were you doing though? You looked really serious for a second there."  
Allura giggled, leaning into his chest. "You'll see later, I promise."  
"Alright then." The robotic hand left hers and moved to her jaw, tilting her face slightly. "I can wait."

Apparently Keith and Lance had both snuck in whilst she was busy finding the perfect shade of grey to match Shiro's eyes, as she was suddenly aware of a caramel pair of arms around her waist, and a paler pair locked around Shiro.  
"Good afternoon, Lance," she said with a giggle, planting a gentle kiss on Shiro's chapped lips before twisting around to place another one on Lance's soft jaw.  
"And good afternoon to you as well," she replied with a hum.  
"Where have you two been? I was looking for you," Shiro jokingly asked, pulling Keith around so he was more on his lap than behind him.  
"Making out in a storage closet." He punctuated his sentence with a peppering of kisses to the bottom of Shiro's jaw. "We tried to find you, but Lancey Lance over there got impatient."  
"I got impatient?" Lance gasped in mock offence, placing his hand against his chest. "You were the one that pressed me against the wall, not the other way around-"  
"Boys," Allura said with a smirk, "may I suggest you finish this later?"  
"Fine," Lance huffed, "but I won."  
"Yeah, whatever."  
"Well next time-" Shiro's voice lowered to a near growl- "we'll be here to judge, but I want to know our Princess here spent so long working on today, hmm?"

Allura felt herself blush, although that may have had something to do with Lance who had started pressing his lips against her neck. "Well, I was talking with Pidge about human constellations, and you, Takashi, mentioned how you used to have them on your bedroom ceiling."  
She heard Shiro gasp lightly.   
"Lights to zero percent."

Above them, the stars glowed steadily, illuminating them from above. Even Lance had removed himself from her neck, too busy looking up at the ceiling.  
"You did this, for us? Keith asked quietly, looking back towards her with wide eyes.  
"Well, yes," Allura confirmed with a warm smile, "you humans really like the stars, so I figured it would make you all more comfortable if you have something that resembled home-"

She was cut off by Shiro's chapped lips finally meeting hers, gently at first before tilting her head to press deeper. Around her, she was just aware of her boys, Lance's hands on her waist, the wood smelling musk that seemed to follow Keith around, the feeling of Shiro's lips moving against hers.

There was nowhere else she would rather be right no, and under the soft glow of the fake stars, surrounded by her lovers and with Shiro's tongue slowly sliding over her bottom lip, she could forget the universe.

Here and now was all she cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmu at my tumblr (Svendidntdieforthis.tumblr.com) about anything VLD related!
> 
> Kudos/comments are my world


	6. The sacrifices of war

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!
> 
> Day 6 of Shallurklance week and the theme for the day was Sacrifice!  
> like, c'mon, you just knew it was gonna be angsty.  
> Quick warnings for a brief mention of Blood and vomit. If that's not for you, skip straight to the first break, since it's all in the first section.
> 
> Enjoy!

The mission hadn't gone well.

At all.

It was unusual, since ground missions were usually a walk in the park. Pidge and Allura hung in the air over the drop zone, picking off the few, if any, ships that tried to ambush them, whilst the rest of the Paladins hit the dirt to take on the oncoming Galra army or support the rebellion. If anything, this one should have been easier than the others; Shiro had been eager to join in, since stepping down from the Black lion since the mess that was Project Kuron and the clone had meant he hadn't seen as much action, and was suffering from an acute case of what Hunk called Cabin Fever, so he joined the ground team of Lance, Hunk, and Keith.

It started well, at least. Keith would never get used to dropping out of the undercarriage of the green lion onto the alien planet, with Hunk next to him nor how Lance and Shiro could turn their drop from the Blue lion into a fun skydive, but he barely had time to think before his feet hit the ground and his Bayard had formed with a whisper of Altean metal. The Galra army didn't even seem that big, neither from the sky nor from the ground, and his sword-arm itched for an opponent that wasn't a gladiator that he could cut down. The ricochet of Hunk's massive gun seemed to echo around the area, and the other two landed just behind them a few seconds later; the purple glow of Shiro's arm reflected off his smirk, and Lance apparently had sniped a few front runners before his feet had even hit the rocks. The oncoming army seemed slow and weak, judging by how they were armed with the short range blasters that the Galra only seemed to give to their lowest ranking lackeys, so it was no surprise all six of them, seven if they included the encouragement from Coran back in the castle, thought this was going to be easy.

Then a robeast slammed into the ground in front of them, and all hell broke loose

Orders were given, the Paladins scrambled back to the lions that were sat just outside the plateau. Keith was aware of Allura in a state of near panic in his head, Pidge barking orders at him to get a move on and form Voltron, and Shiro announcing that he was flying with Lance. He hardly had to give the order before the Lions were forming Voltron, slotting into place fluidly, and the Hurricane that was the Black lion roared in the back of his mind.   
In front of them, the Robeast let out a ear-piercing shriek, flailing its arms wildly.

Then their power went offline, and Keith felt himself fall.

The next year thing he was aware of was being on his front, cheek pressed against the front dashboard. There was blood trickling down his face - his visor had smashed, the shards were digging into his skin, and he must have vomited after the fall - but he was awake.  
Black was unresponsive beneath him, and the Robeast was running towards them.

"-ith! Keith, can you hear me?"

The sudden volume of Allura's voice in his ear shook him lucid.

"Loud and clear," he responded with a wince at the sound of his own voice, wrecked and gravelled, "what happened out there?"  
 _"Pidge says the monster released an electromagnetic pulse,"_ Allura stated, connection crackling, " _whatever it was, it managed to get Voltron to disconnect. This could be dangerous!"_

Heh, Keith thought, languidly wiping blood and vomit away from his mouth, incredibly dangerous.

_"Keith, you need to get the Black Lion up, now!"_

His helmet was cracked too, and he felt lightheaded, almost as if his head was surrounded by cotton wool. His fingers didn't seem to respond quickly, and he held his hand in the air to marvel the way the red light danced off his fingertips.

_"Keith, please! You need to move now!"_

The giant steps of the robeast shook the cockpit.

 _"Don't worry sweetheart, we're here."_  
That was Shiro. He must have been awake too.  
 _"Lance, now!"_

A flash of Red jumped before Black as Keith passed out against the cockpit chair.

* * *

 

If he tried hard enough, he had vague memories of walking. Pidge - or at least he thought it was Pidge - had an arm around his middle, and had been telling him about his injuries in a rough whisper. Keith didn't remember any of them, but the hazy view of the cyropod was soon in sight.

A hiss of air was the next thing Keith recalled, accompanied by a flash of an ice cold and the pain that came from entering a bright light after being sat in a dark room. Two strong arms secured themselves around his shoulders, and he felt one hand begin to comb through his hair gently.  
"Darling, you're okay, thank the  _gods,"_ Allura soothed, soft voice filling up the silence of the medical bay, "You weren't in there long, I promise."  
Slowly, he relaxed in her arms, feeling tears begin to prick his eyes. The fear of nearly being trampled by a robeast hit him with full force, slamming into him like a freight train. He remembered the cries of his teammates as the robeast approched, how Hunk was loudly panicking and sending Yellow into a wild downwards spiral, how Pidge was calculating trajectories as fast as she could scream at him to get up, how Lance and Shiro had jumped in front of him-

"Where are they?" He asked, voice like sandpaper from disuse.   
Allura froze in front of him, arm locking tighter around his waist. "Takashi and Lance are still healing, my love, and you should be as well-"  
"Allura, what happened out there?" He tried to pull away to look up at her, squirming out of her arms to see her avert her eyes and sigh worriedly.  
"They took the hit for you,  _for us_ ," she explained, voice rising, "you weren't moving, so they decided to move in front and active Red's laser cannon upon impact. Admittedly, this did destroy the monster, but-" she stopped and took a deep breath, eyes glazing with tears- "I've never seen Red so mangled." She stopped to wipe at her eyes, quickly moving and replacing her arm around Keith's waist. "We had to enlist the help of Kolivan and his men to retrieve them from their lion, and it was a horrific sight. There was so much blood..."  
She trailed off, looking back up at Keith with a fixed smile. "But you're okay now, and that's one less person to worry about."  
"Where is everyone else?"   
"We're currently in the castle's night cycle," she informed him, beginning to move him towards the lift, "everyone else is asleep, but alas, without you three, I could not."

Keith let himself be led, and happily collapsed onto the plush bed. The last thing he remembered before he fell asleep was Allura's arms around him, safe and warm.

* * *

 

Allura was right, Red was mangled.

His old bond with the lion had caused him to wake up with a splitting headache, one that no amount of water that Coran pushed on him could heal. But Hunk had invited him down to the hangars to watch over the repair, and Allura had pulled him there gently with a simple link of their hands.

The entire right side of the Lion was mangled, metal dented and crushed. The cockpit had been halved in size, and she lay lifeless on the hangar floor, unable to support herself on legs that were bent double at excruciating angles that Hunk and Pidge were attacking with glowing welding tools and energy-based buzz saws.

Whatever that robeast had done, it had certainly destroyed Red, and nearly her two pilots.

If Lance hadn't jumped in front...

It wasn't worth thinking about.

* * *

 

Lance and Shiro were in the centre of the room when Keith and Allura came back into the medical bay. Lance was surrounded by the general mass that was the former paladin, and his face on his shoulder; judging by the spasms that racked his body, the shock of the event had finally kicked in, and Shiro was doing all he could to calm him down. The Galra hand was tracing small circles on the small of his back, and he was whispering reassurances, inaudible from the distance at which Keith and Allura were standing.

They probably would have stayed there if Shiro hadn't shot his head up and smiled at them, almost beckoning them over.

"Keith, sweetheart, you're okay," Shiro warmly said as they approached, moving one arm from around Lance to pull him close as well.  
"I'm okay?" Keith asked with an incredulous laugh, "I should be saying that to you two."  
He heard a watery laugh from Lance, muffled from his position in Shiro's chest, but a lanky arm joined Shiro's around his waist. "You're both idiots," he added, slotting his head on Lance's shoulder, "complete fucking idiots."  
"You honestly think we were gonna' leave you there to get your face smashed in?" Lance asked him weakly, turning his face out of Shiro's chest.

Keith opened his mouth to answer when a third pair of arms encircled all three of them, and another chest pressed against the back of his head.

In times of comfort, Allura's shapeshifting powers were incredible.

"I think it's time we all had some sleep, don't you all agree?"

* * *

 

Of course, Lance was the first one asleep; he had dramatically fell face first onto the bed, shuffling over to shoot his lovers a grin that Keith almost didn't see again. Shiro was next, cuddling up to Lance's side like a child that wanted warmth; there was something guilty about his actions, and Keith knew that he was blaming himself for his and Lance's injuries. But soon his face settled from one of worry to one of relaxation, and his breathing evened out almost as soon as he was comfortable.  
Keith took the opportunity to sprawl himself half on top of Lance in the middle, with a leg reaching over to rest gently on top of Shiro's, and Allura, still larger than them all, snugly fit herself behind him, curling her body so she had contact with everyone.

War was war, he understood that, and as with all wars there was a high chance they weren't all going to come out of this alive.

But he'd keep fighting, if it meant he could experience this again.

For them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more day to go D:
> 
> Kudos/comments are awesome


	7. A Home away from Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS SO LATE AIHBSJBADBSB SORRY
> 
> My excuse is I needed a day to get over S4, and then realised I hadn't actually started the final chapter lmao
> 
> SO YEAH this is now complete! Thank you guys for reading it, and I hoped you enjoyed them!  
> (Also I'm sorry this chap is kinda shit it's rushed as hell)
> 
> Enjoy!

For once, it was quiet.

There was no rattling gun fire, no fiery explosions that shook the castle, no red alarms that indicated a Galra attack.

Just the quiet, humming, white noise of the castle, Allura's occasional mumbles of whatever she was reading, and the clacking buttons of Shiro and Lance's game controllers. Keith was leaning with his head on Shiro's shoulder, watching intently; he never really played with them. Back at the orphanage he always won, and eventually the other boys stopped letting him play, and no amount of persuading from Lance could change that. He was content just watching for now, laughing and shooting him a stupid name when Lance grumbled and head butted Shiro from his sitting position between his legs, cheering when Shiro took out an enemy.

"Okay boys," Allura asked with a smirk, setting her book aside and sitting up, "teach me how to play."  
"Alright." Lance handed her the controller, wrapping his hands around hers to show her how to hold it, "you ready?"  
Allura nodded confidently, flexing her fingers around the controller.  
"Middle of the cuddle pile says Allura's better than you," Keith betted with a smirk, increasing when Lance whipped around and shot him a glare.   
"You're on, mullet!" Lance challenged back, slowly turning back to face the screen.   
Behind Lance, Shiro chuckled, jostling his arms slightly to accommodate Lance's movement. "Please don't tell me you guys are actually going to fight over this."  
"I'm sorry Kashi, but Keith's said it now," Lance stated seriously, "we have to go through with it."  
"Well then, I accept this challange," Allura replied serenely, "Lance, dear, good luck."  
" _Good luck_? What's that supposed to mean?"  
Allura didn't even respond, just rolling her eyes playfully and faced the screen once again. "Are you ready, Takashi?"  
"As long as you are, Princess."

The game itself was paused on a long menu, humming with ambient music whilst Lance went over the basic controls, what each button did and which joystick moved the character, whilst Keith and Shiro interjected with tips and fun tricks that she could do if she was quick enough.  
"Do ya' think you're ready?" Lance teased once the tutorial was over, leaning back into Shiro's chest.  
Allura smirked. "Of  _course._ "

The thing was, was that she was  _very good_.

Somewhere along the line, Allura had racked up a higher combo than Shiro, and had no qualms picking up weapons and attacking anything that strayed into her pathway. Even Keith was surprised at how much further she'd gotten than Shiro, and, if Lance's dropped jaw saw anything to go by, so was he.

"Allura, sweetheart, 'you okay there?" Shiro eventually asked gently, picking up on how she was now nearly hunched double.  
In return, Allura growled quietly, shooting him a glare. "I don't understand why this is so easy."  
" _Easy_?" Lance shot back, "you're playing on pretty much the highest setting there is!"  
"There is the legendary mode," Shiro mused quietly.  
Keith scoffed quietly. "But Takashi's shit at legendary mode, so he'd prefer you didn't play that."  
"It isn't that bad-"  
"You didn't even beat the first stage last time we tried," Lance shot back.  
Shiro felt himself flush, listening to his loves laugh teasingly around him.  
"I'll save your image, Takashi," Allura said gently, setting the controller down in front of her and stretching, "we should be resting, Kolivan wants to start some more intensive training tomorrow."  
Lance paled. "I can already feel pain."  
"Marmora training isn't that bad, Lance," Keith said, raising an eyebrow at Lance's complaints.  
"Yeah, but not all of us are part time marmoran soldiers."  
Keith shrugged. "Fair."

* * *

 

"So I was thinking, right," Lance said quietly, setting a small picture straight on the wall, "that this is kind of our home now, right?"  
"I guess so," Shiro agreed, "and I'm completely okay with that."  
"I am too!" Lance turned hastily, hands apologetically behind his back. "It just feels a bit weird, because it's not my 'home', but it is? Does that make sense?"  
Shiro chuckled and sat down on the bed next to Keith, who was dozing with his eyes shut. "My Momma always used to say that your home was wherever your heart is." He looked at Allura, who was combing knotted hair in a mirror, at Keith, who was happily napping next to him for the first time in ages, at Lance, who had just secured a picture of all four of them to the wall. "I'd say my heart is certainly here, so this is my home, I guess."  
"Well, if it's your home," Lance said slowly, grin growing on his face as he walked over, "I might be able to make it mine too."

Next to them, Keith stirred with a hum. "I've never really had a home," he admitted quietly, voice slurred and rough from sleep, but his fear of the truth still slipped through, "I like it here though."  
A clack of a comb being set against the metal table echoed through the room, and they all turned to see Allura give a sobering smile. "You know I'd share my home with you, all three of you, and I'd be honoured if you considered it as such," she said warmly, crawling over the bed behind them to run a hand through Keith's hair and over his cheek, "it doesn't feel like home when you're not here, either."  
"Aw, babe!" Lance tipped backwards, falling into her lap. "It feels empty with out you, too, like whenever you go off to do your diplomacy stuff?" He threw his arms out exaggeratedly. "Empty, babe."  
Shiro felt a fond smile spread across his face as he looked over his loves that were spread over the bed. "I think this calls for a cuddle pile?"  
Allura giggled. "Let us form Voltron!"  
"Allura," Lance groaned, "I love you, but that was terrible." He flopped down on the bed next to Keith, tossing a leg over his and throwing an arm over his chest.

"Uh, Lance?"  
"What?"  
Keith smirked and laughed under his breath. "You still lost your bet."  
Swearing quietly, Lance groaned and shuffled over to his other side at the edge of the bed. " _Fine_."  
"Don't worry, love, you can have the middle tomorrow," Allura soothed gently, lying in the space where Lance was and pulling Keith close. Still sat, Shiro laughed, shrugging off his grey robe and lying slightly on top of Keith, but so his arms still reached around Lance and Allura. "I love you guys, so much."  
There was a bit of struggle, and Allura was forced to sit up slightly, but he eventually kissed each one of his loves gently. "G'night guys."  
"Night, Kashi!"  
"Goodnight!"  
"Go the fuck to sleep already, all of you."

It was, arguably, the first proper night in their new home.

And it certainly wouldn't be the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading, and I'll see you next time!  
> I've started another chapter of Everything, I'm (hopefully) going to be a part of the Shance Secret Santa this year, and I've got a couple of oneshots that I want to write inspired by recent conversations (Again, if anyone follows my tumblr, you'll know its mostly gonna be Shance or Svance ngl I'm sorry)
> 
> Kudos/Comments keep me going through these dark times
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr! (Svendidntdieforthis.tumblr.com)


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